Set up your new Mac mini

Use these basic setup steps to get your new Mac mini up and running.

Check for an Internet connection

It’s best to set up your Mac mini somewhere that has a Wi-Fi network or other connection to the Internet. Your Mac mini will use that connection to complete certain setup steps. If the network requires a password, have the password ready.

Plug in only the essential devices

If you’re using an external keyboard and trackpad or mouse, turn them on or plug them into your Mac mini. If you’re using an external display, plug it in and turn it on as well, but don’t connect any other peripherals yet. And of course plug in your Mac mini.

If you’ve never used a trackpad before, here’s a tip: To click, press down or tap on the trackpad surface.

Using 4K displays, 5K displays, and Ultra HD TVs with your Mac

Learn about Mac support for 4K displays, 5K displays, and Ultra HD TVs. Also learn about the system requirements and how to set up and adjust the display or TV.

Supported displays and configurations

You can use 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs with these Mac computers:

MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013) and later

Mac Pro (Late 2013)

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) and later

Mac mini (Late 2014)

MacBook Air (Early 2015)

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) and later

HDMI

You can use 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs at the following resolutions and refresh rates via the built-in HDMI port of your Mac:

3840×2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate

4096×2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) and later, as well as late-2016 MacBook Pro models, support these resolutions and refresh rates over HDMI 1.4b using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter:

3840×2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate

4096×2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) and late-2016 MacBook Pro models support 60Hz refresh rates over HDMI when used with a supported HDMI 2.0 display, an HDMI Premium Certified cable, and a supported USB-C to HDMI 2.0 adapter.

Single-Stream (SST) displays

Most single-stream 4K displays are supported at 30Hz operation.

With OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 and later, most single-stream 4K (3840×2160) displays are supported at 60Hz operation on the following Mac computers:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) and later

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) and later

Mac Pro (Late 2013)

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) and later

MacBook Air (Early 2015)

With OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 and later, most single-stream 4K (4096×2160) displays are supported at 60Hz operation on the following Mac computers:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

Mac Pro (Late 2013)

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) and later

With macOS Sierra, MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) and later supports 4K (3840×2160) displays at 60Hz operation over DisplayPort.

If you use a 60Hz MST display with the MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) with AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics card or iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), only one additional Thunderbolt display can be supported. Learn more about Thunderbolt ports and displays.

You need to manually configure 4K displays to use MST. Follow the steps below to use the display’s built-in controls to enable this feature.

Adjusting your display

Use System Preferences > Displays to adjust or scale the resolution on your display. This can make text and objects appear larger or give you more space on your screen.

Hover your mouse over one of the resolution options to see more detail on that option. To get a Detect Displays button to appear, press the Option key. To see all the available resolutions, hold down the Option key while clicking the Scaled button.

If you change display resolutions when mirroring to a 4K display or Ultra HD TV, some distortion can occur. Turn mirroring off and back on to correct this.

To get the best graphics performance from your 4K display, connect the display or its adapter directly to your Mac, instead of connecting through another peripheral or device.

Print from your Mac mini

Learn how to print pictures and other documents from your Mac mini to a printer.

Print a document

Open an item that you want to print, then choose Print from the File menu, or press Command-P.

Choose your printer from the Printer pop-up menu, which lists nearby printers. You may need to wait a moment for the printer to appear in the menu.

Optionally change any of the other settings shown, such as the number of copies to print. Click Show Details to display additional settings that your printer or app supports. These settings vary depending on the printer and app you’re using. Click Hide Details to show just the most commonly used settings.

To send the print job to your print queue, click Print.

Manage your print jobs

After you click Print, the print job goes to your print queue, which automatically sends the job to the printer. To open your print queue:

Click the icon of your printer in the Dock. The printer icon appears when the print queue contains jobs.

Or go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners. Select your printer from the list, then click Open Print Queue.

You can take any of these actions from the print queue:

View status messages about your printer, such as “Printer is not connected.”

View jobs that are in progress, waiting to be printed, or couldn’t be printed because of a problem with the printer or its connection.

Pause, resume, or delete jobs.

View settings and other information about your printer, such as the printer’s name and supply levels.

Preview your document by double-clicking it or selecting it and pressing Space bar.

Learn more

For more information, click the question mark in the Print window or Printers & Scanners preferences.

Connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network

You can connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network for wireless printing from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

This general information isn’t specific to any particular AirPrint printer. For detailed steps, check the printer’s documentation or contact the printer’s manufacturer. All Wi-Fi printers need a properly configured Wi-Fi network and the name (or SSID) and password of that network.

If the printer has a built-in display

Printers with a touchscreen or other built-in display (control panel) generally expect you to use that display to select or enter the name and password of your Wi-Fi network. Check the printer’s documentation for details.

If the printer uses Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)

If your Wi-Fi router isn’t made by Apple, check the router’s documentation for details about how to add a WPS printer.

If your Wi-Fi router is an AirPort Base Station:

Open AirPort Utility, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

Select your base station in AirPort Utility, then enter the base station password, if prompted.

From the menu bar, choose Base Station > Add WPS Printer.

Select either “First attempt” or “PIN” as the type of WPS connection to allow. Then click Continue.

If you selected “First attempt,” push the WPS button on the printer. When the printer’s MAC Address appears in AirPort Utility, click Done.

If you selected “PIN,” enter the printer’s PIN number, which should be listed in the printer’s documentation. Then click Continue. When the printer’s MAC Address appears in AirPort Utility, click Done.

Quit AirPort Utility.

If the printer can connect to your Mac mini via USB

You may be able to use a USB connection to set up Wi-Fi printing:

Connect the printer to your Mac mini using the appropriate USB cable.

Install the Mac software that came with the printer, and make sure that it includes a printer setup assistant.

Use the printer setup assistant to connect the printer to your Wi-Fi network. Check the printer’s documentation for details.

Disconnect the USB cable from the printer and Mac. The printer should remain connected to the Wi-Fi network.

If the printer can create an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network

You may be able to use the printer’s own ad-hoc Wi-Fi network to set up Wi-Fi printing:

Install the Mac software that came with the printer, and make sure that it includes a printer setup assistant.

Make sure that the printer’s ad-hoc Wi-Fi network is turned on. Check the printer’s documentation for details.

Open the Wi-Fi menu on your Mac by clicking the Wi-Fi iconin the menu bar, then select the name of the printer’s ad-hoc Wi-Fi network. While your Mac is on the printer’s network, your Mac won’t be able to connect to the Internet or other services on your regular Wi-Fi network.

Use the printer setup assistant to connect the printer to your Wi-Fi network. Check the printer’s documentation for details. The printer may restart before it connects to the network.

Return to the Wi-Fi menu on your Mac and switch back to your Wi-Fi network.

Learn more

After the printer is connected to your Wi-Fi network, you’re ready to start printing:

If your Mac doesn’t see your printer or have the software for it

Make sure that your printer is turned on and ready. For help with an error light or other error condition that appears on the printer itself, check the device’s documentation or contact the manufacturer.

Check for software updates to make sure that your Mac has the latest information about your printer.Your Mac downloads software for most printers automatically, so it’s usually unnecessary to install software from the printer manufacturer.

If you disconnected your printer from the USB port in step 2, reconnect it now.

Select your printer in the list of devices. You might need to wait a moment for it to appear.

If your printer doesn’t appear in Printers & Scanners preferences, click Add (+) at the bottom of the list, then choose the command to add a printer or scanner. The window that opens offers more ways to find your device:

Default: Choose Default to display the list of printers connected to your Mac or discoverable on your local network. You can use the search field at the top of the window to narrow your search.

IP: Choose IP if your device is connected to your network and you know the device’s IP address (or host name) and protocol. If you don’t have this information, ask your network administrator or check your device’s documentation.

Windows: Choose Windows if your device is connected to a PC using printer sharing, or to your network using the Windows SMB/CIFS protocol. You might first need to set up File Sharing to connect to the networked Windows resources.

If you still can’t see your printer or successfully add it, contact the printer manufacturer for support.

If your Mac has some other issue with your printer or scanner

These steps might resolve printing issues that have no other clear cause.

If the issue persists, Control-click anywhere in the list of devices in Printers & Scanners preferences. Then choose “Reset printing system” from the shortcut menu that appears.Resetting the printing system causes all printers and scanners—including their queues, jobs, and custom settings—to be removed from Printers & Scanners preferences.

The Printers folder opens. Choose Edit > Select All to select all items in the folder.

Choose File > New Folder with Selection to put all of the selected items into a new folder named New Folder With Items.To save storage space, you can delete the New Folder With Items folder after completing the remaining steps.

Learn more

Checking that your computer recognizes the new memory

To check that the computer recognizes the new memory:

Start up your computer.

When you see the Mac OS X desktop, choose Apple () from the upper-left menu bar, then choose About This Mac.

The total memory includes the amount of memory that originally came with the computer plus the new memory you added, or if all the memory has been replaced, the new total for that memory. For detailed information about the amount of memory installed in your computer, open System Profiler by choosing Apple (), then About This Mac. Click More Info and then Memory from the Hardware section that appears in System Profiler.

If the reported memory size isn’t correct or if your Mac mini repeatedly plays three tones, it may be having trouble recognizing a memory module. If this happens, shut down your Mac mini, verify the module specifications against the requirements listed above, and then repeat the memory installation instructions to make sure the modules are installed correctly. If you still have issues, remove the memory and consult the support information that came with the memory, or contact the vendor who provided the memory.

Limited Warranty and Service

Your Mac mini comes with 90 days of free telephone support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase theAppleCare Protection Plan to extend your service and support to three years from your computer’s purchase date. Only the AppleCare Protection Plan provides you with direct telephone support from Apple technical experts and the assurance that repairs will be handled by Apple-authorized technicians using genuine Apple parts. For more information, visit Apple Support or call 800-823-2775.

In the Box

Mac mini

Power cord

Operating System

OS X El Capitan
Engineered to take full advantage of your Mac hardware, OS X El Capitan is designed to be as easy to use as it is beautiful to look at. It comes with an amazing collection of apps you’ll use — and love — every day. And it enables your Mac and iOS devices to work wonderfully together. Learn more

Mac mini and the Environment

Mac mini is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental impact:

BFR-free

PVC-free5

Highly recyclable aluminum enclosure

Meets ENERGY STAR 6.1 requirements

Rated EPEAT Gold6

Apple and the EnvironmentLearn more about Apple’s dedication to reducing the environmental impact of our products and process. Or read our Product Environmental Reports for detailed information on the environmental performance of every Apple product.

Recycling
Apple takes a holistic view of materials management and waste minimization. Learn more about how to recycle your Mac.

Acoustic Performance

Declared noise emission values in accordance with ECMA-109

Sound Power Level
LWA,m (B)

Sound Pressure Level
Operator Position
LpA,m (dB)

Idle

1.90 (Kv=0.25)

12.0

Wireless web

1.90 (Kv=0.25)

11.5

Hard drive seek

1.95 (Kv=0.25)

12.0

LWA,m is the mean A-weighted sound power level, rounded to the nearest 0.05 B.

LpA,m is the mean A-weighted sound pressure level measured at the operator position (rounded to the nearest 0.5 dB).

1 B (bel) = 10 dB (decibel)

KV is the statistical adder for computing upper-limit of A-weighted sound power level.

The quantity, LWA,c (formerly called LWAd) may be computed from the sum of LWA,m and KV.